"Really? Never heard of him." Giles pulled another book over to the stack he was working with at the table.
"Wrote a paper on how the pyramids were built by aliens."
"Ridiculous." Giles scoffed. "Hope they laughed him out of town."
"Well, he was at Oxford a little after us, and now he is in Colorado Springs, so I guess so." Adam stopped when Willow entered the library. "Willow, perhaps you can dig up more information than I can. I have all his credit reports and his address, but I can't come up with more current information than that Daniel Jackson works for the military as a civilian contractor."
"Hey, you did pretty good." Willow looked through the stack of papers, impressed. "There's not much more you can get on a person without real hacking skills. Wow! He's pretty accident prone. Scooch over, I'll see what I can come up with."
"Hey, Giles! I'm here!" Buffy blasted into the library in form-fitting exercise wear. Giles stood up from behind the counter, about to say something. Buffy ignored him. Spotting Methos, she put her hands on her hips. "Adam, I thought I told you to get dressed."
"I am dressed." Adam looked at his clothes. "You made this sweater, I don't see a problem with it."
"I made all your sweaters, Adam. Go get dressed. We have reservations at the 'Bey tonight, it's black tie." Buffy sauntered over to Methos and gave him a probing kiss, whispering in his ear. "It's on holy ground. Even the parking lot. No troubles for us."
"Ah." Adam smiled broadly. "I do like that plan."
"The Abbey is sixty-plus dollars a plate, Buffy." Giles pointed out. "And it's thirty miles up the coast. The waiting list is weeks."
"And?" Buffy tapped her foot impatiently indicating that Adam should leave. "We're not paying for it."
"That sounds even better. How'd you manage that racket?"
"Mmm-mmm. Not telling Giles." Buffy leaned over and whispered in Adam's ear.
"You are a scheming little wench, aren't you?" Adam pinched her bottom and dragged himself out of his chair and pointed across the room in an imperious manner. "Go fetch your sword, wench! If we wait any longer you'll get rusty." Adam stripped off his sweater and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, pulling it over his head. When he was done, and bare from the waist up, Buffy licked her lips. Adam frowned teasingly and pointed once again to Buffy's coat which held her sword. "Go!"
"Just admiring the view." Buffy laughed and went to retrieve her sword. "Who are you calling, wench, Old Man?"
"You! Care to place any wagers on the outcome, wench?" Adam pulled out his sword, swinging it playfully. "I'm feeling lucky."
"It'll take more than luck to beat me, Adam." Buffy saluted him with the sword. Adam returned the salute. "What sort of wager were you thinking?"
"I win, you…" Adam rattled off a few words in Ancient, Buffy frowned. "You win, I do all Ripper's lovely tricks for you." Giles looked up, white-faced. Adam launched at Buffy with a quick attack, that she brushed off easily, giving Adam a dirty look.
Buffy parried, jumping over a low swing that Adam aimed at her thighs. She then kicked Adam in the stomach as she came down, sending him reeling back a few feet. "Ripper's right there, I could ask him to his tricks himself." Buffy pointed out, indicating her watcher. "Don't expose your midsection, Adam."
Adam barked a response in Ancient and fixed his stance. Buffy pulled her elbows in closer to her sides, fixing a problem that Giles was always trying to correct. "You spend entirely too much time with Angelus to convince me that Ripper has ever shown you his tricks."
Buffy sighed dramatically. "I've tried everything. Even this." She indicated her skimpy outfit. "He doesn't even know I'm female." She made some derogatory comments in Ancient about the tiny size of her breasts. "I think he's gone entirely over to the other side. I'd have better luck with him if I were Ethan."
"I'm well aware that you're female, Buffy." Giles groaned, not liking the turn of conversation, but feeling a half-hearted need to defend himself. The second half of him was shocked that Adam had told Buffy about his times with Ethan. Most of him was entirely fixated on the flashing swords that rained down between the two lovers. He'd never seen Buffy fight so well. They moved as if dancing, not even appearing to think about the moves. Occasionally, Adam or Buffy would bark out a command and the one of them would correct some nearly invisible defect in their stance or hold. Willow had looked up once from the computer to see the fight and returned to work, an intent expression on her face. She clearly was too entranced in her work at the computer to pay attention to the fight or the conversation.
"You inviting the watcher to join us?" Adam smirked as he stepped to one side to avoid a thrust.
"Fine, I win, Ripper joins us. And does all his lovely tricks. And he eats my black pudding tomorrow morning. First blood?" Buffy took a backhanded swipe at Adam, hoping to catch him off guard. Adam used his sword to turn her off balance and barked another comment at her. Buffy swore using words that raised Willow's eyebrows.
"Sloppy, wench. First blood it is." Adam switched his sword to his other hand, Buffy did the same. Buffy attacked, lightning fast, leaving Adam completely on the defensive trying to fend off her blows. He finally found his rhythm and pushed Buffy back several feet through sheer determination. Adam's focus was total, his eyes flat and black. Buffy, on the other hand, seemed completely relaxed, and while she was giving ground, she did not appear to be troubled by it. In a move almost too quick to be seen, Buffy dodged a blow aimed at her head, and twirled beneath Adam's defenses to nick him in a fine line under the ribs.
"I win!" Buffy jumped up and down. She looked expectantly at Giles.
"I am not agreeing to this." Giles shook his head.
"See? What did I tell you, Adam?" Buffy held out her sword. "Let me think. I'll think of something. A third. Oooh. Got it." She went to her purse and pulled out a cell phone. "Your pick, Will or Ethan?"
Adam barked a laugh. "You're joking! They're both still here?"
"Of course. Will's camped out in a house five inches outside the city limits since I tossed him out of town. Ethan's in Anaheim."
"I'll take the sorcerer."
"Oooh. Good choice. Hope he's forgiven me for beating all that money out of him. Mom made me pay to get the Eyghon tattoo removed."
"Darling, if I know Ethan, he enjoyed it," answered Adam. Giles choked on his tea.
"Of course he did. Invited me back a few times and helped me get the job at Joe's bar. Drove me up there, too." Buffy shrugged while pushing some buttons on her cell phone. "Amazing the contacts that man has. You'd think he was one of us. It's a shame, really."
"So that's how you wound up there." Adam mused.
"No. I wanted to go up there, Ethan's contact was just convenient. I needed some training -- and I heard the Boy Scout was up there. I can't get used to being so short. I'm a complete klutz. Damn near lost to Angelus, and he's no swordsman. Ethan just found me the job." Giles heard the buzz of the phone, a click and Ethan's voice saying "Hallo!" Buffy's voice took on a seductive purr. "Ethan, dahling. How do you feel about a little dinner party with Adam and me? Of course tonight, we're eating at the 'Bey at seven.… Oh. Lovely. No, no. Ripper's being an absolute bastard. Well, at least you apologized and paid up." Giles heard Ethan's voice making sarcastic comments in the receiver. Buffy laughed. "Of course Ripper knows, he's standing right here. I want to piss him off." Giles heard the sound of Ethan's raucous laughter and he groaned as Buffy winked at him. "Of course I found Adam. What did you think? Oooh. Amanda and I recovered some lovely trinkets over the summer. Wait 'til I tell you…." Ethan responded and Buffy waited until he was done. "I scored a car, love." Buffy rolled her eyes and sounded annoyed. "Of course I can drive it." Adam barked out a laugh. "Au revoir." Buffy turned to Adam with a smile. "He'll be there. He says he bought some new toys."
"Um… Buffy. Perhaps…" Giles wanted to say something about meeting with Ethan being ill-advised and that she should reconsider. Giles felt himself begin to stutter as he looked up at a curious Buffy, realizing there was much to her life that she had hidden from him. And, further, he had just refused an invitation, in fact several invitations, however strangely worded and goading they may have been, to learn more about her. She had thrown down the gauntlet, and he had refused. Buffy raised her eyebrow and looked expectant. Giles sighed. "Never mind." Buffy's face fell. Giles felt he that he had failed some test that he didn't even know was there.
Giles was saved by swinging doors as Oz and Xander came in with relaxed smiles on their faces despite the bandages on their hands. Buffy looked up. "Good meeting, then?"
"Great! Everything worked out." Xander nodded. "He's good."
Buffy looked back and forth between the two of them. "And Willow?"
"It's fine." Xander shrugged. "Veruca's a little upset, but no worries." At the mention of Veruca's name, Oz tensed slightly and ran his hand through his green hair. "She can't do anything to you, Oz. As much as she likes to pretend, she's not a dominant." Xander stroked Oz's back as though comforting him. Oz frowned and nodded.
Oz walked over to Willow, sitting at her feet and putting his head in her lap. Willow ran her hand absentmindedly through his hair and Oz gave a small shudder. "Everything good, baby?"
Oz nodded. "All good."
"Who's his sponsor?"
"So you know whose butt to kick?" Xander grinned. Buffy nodded. "Justin."
"Ah. Good choice." Justin was a wereleopard that had run away from his pack in Nevada, winding up on Hellmouth. He'd survived three years alone on the Hellmouth before Xander founded the mixed-were pack. Justin was a dominant, but not dominant enough to lead a pack on the Hellmouth. He'd be Nimir-Raj anywhere but Sunnydale. Xander respected him for his good judgement and cool head. "I won't need to kick his butt."
Willow was still running her hands through Oz's hair. Oz appeared to be relaxing somewhat. "Hey, Giles! How much info do you want on Daniel Jackson? I've cut through the first four levels of security, but there's still blacked out info. You want "Eyes Only" stuff, or just the "Top Secret" stuff?"
Giles looked up from his books. "What on earth do you mean, Willow?"
"Well, he works on a top-secret project in Cheyenne Mountain. Officially, it's Deep-Space Radar Telemetry. But reading through the lines, that's a cover. And not a very good one." Willow typed a few more lines. "So I got past that level, and figured out he's working as a translator for a group called SG-1. It's booted me out four times. I'm trying to crack this account." Buffy wandered over to the computer. "Jack O'Neill. Try Bella. B-E-L-L-A."
"Nope." Willow answered. "Not enough letters. At least six."
Buffy turned to look back at Adam. "Adam. If you were Jack, what would you use for your password?"
"D-U-M-B-A-S-S." Adam answered.
"Adam! No, seriously."
Adam approached the computer and looked at the screen. "You can't honestly believe that's Jack."
"Colonel in the Air Force? Working at Cheyenne Mountain? That's exactly where he'd hide." Buffy leaned over the keyboard, quickly typed 'Methos' and hit Enter.
"He wouldn't use that." Adam scratched his afternoon stubble. The screen read, "Wrong password, please try again." "Try M-A-F-D-E-T." Willow's fingers flew over the keys. She hit the enter key. The screen flashed and a new screen appeared. The splash screen read "Welcome to the Stargate Program." Buffy and Adam read the lines of Ancient text that decorated the screen before Jack's e-mail listing showed up.
Xander heard Willow screech with joy and rushed to look over her shoulder. He glanced down the list of subject topics. He whistled. "Whoa doggies! Are you supposed to be in there?"
"No." Willow seemed to be a bit shocked at the headlines. "Who are the Asgard? And the Go-ald?"
"That bastard!" Buffy hissed as she stepped back from the computer. "His head is mine."
Adam's voice was ice. "Not if I get to him first."